Doctor Pleads Guilty In Prescription Case

MIDDLETOWN — A doctor accused of prescribing drugs to cash-paying addicts so readily that he was called "The Candy Man" pleaded guilty Tuesday to four of 47 criminal charges against him.

Dr. Scott Houghton entered guilty pleas to two counts of illegally prescribing a narcotic substance and one count each of illegally prescribing a controlled substance and failure to maintain proper security and storage.

Houghton's sentencing is scheduled on Nov. 26.

Prosecutor Russell Zentner recommended 10 years in prison, suspended after four years. But Judge David Gold said he is leaning toward imposing a fully suspended sentence with a period of probation.

Houghton entered his pleas under the Alford doctrine, which means he doesn't agree with all of the facts of the state's case, but agrees that there is enough evidence for a conviction.

His attorney, William F. Dow III, said that Houghton maintains his innocence, but that the risk of a lengthy prison sentence if he were convicted at trial is "much too great."

Houghton originally faced 47 charges, all felonies, and prison terms equaling 704 years.

Allegations against Houghton came to light in 2008. Sources told drug control agents that Houghton would issue multiple, overlapping prescriptions for narcotics and controlled substances for numerous patients that were not necessary.

Zentner said one of the counts to which Houghton pleaded guilty involves a patient who visited Houghton's office in Old Saybrook five times in September 2009 for prescriptions of Demerol, a narcotic pain medicine. Houghton issued a prescription for a 13-day supply of the drug during the first visit and, seven days later, prescribed a 30-day supply, and the patient returned for additional prescriptions three more times before the month was over, Zentner said.

Authorities raided the doctor's office on Feb. 2, 2010, and seized numerous boxes of records. Demerol was found stored improperly in a refrigerator in a common area of the office, Zentner said.

Houghton's license to prescribe controlled substances was suspended a day after the raid, but he prescribed a controlled substance to a patient days later, Zentner said.

Houghton's license to practice medicine was suspended in August 2011

Houghton had applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation that could have led to the charges being dropped. But Gold denied him admittance to the program.

During a hearing on Houghton's application for accelerated rehabilitation, Zentner said the doctor often accepted $100 cash payments in the hallway of his practice for a prescription. He also accepted 11 free concert tickets and free dinners in addition to the overnight casino trips, the prosecutor said.

Police said Houghton overprescribed drugs such as Valium, Xanax, Percocet, Klonopin and Oxycontin.